


A New Adventure

by Thrunic



Category: Dragon Tales
Genre: Adventure, Clothed Masturbation, Clothed Sex, Clothing, Clothing Porn, Consensual Underage Sex, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dry Humping, Dry Orgasm, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 00:07:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18789043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrunic/pseuds/Thrunic
Summary: Emmy, Max, and Enrique are going on another adventure in Dragon Land. As they go spelunking, the caves aren't the only thing that they explore.Rated Explicit due to large amounts of underage and human/dragon sexual activity, even if it's fully clothed.





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a Table of Slashy Contents, for those of you looking for a specific pairing
> 
> Chapter 1 Small amount of Enrique, Emmy, and Max solo.
> 
> Chapter 2 Emmy/Enrique.
> 
> Chapter 3 Emmy/Enrique/Cassie (mostly), Emmy/Enrique (two different episodes, each a dream).
> 
> Chapter 4 None.
> 
> Chapter 5 Max/Ord.
> 
> Chapter 6 Emmy/Cassie.
> 
> Chapter 7 Max/Ord.
> 
> Chapter 8 Enrique/Emmy/Cassie.
> 
> This is a publication of a work I wrote a long time ago. It was written around June 2012, give or take a few months. I believe that it was published on another site around that time, with permission. All spelling and grammatical errors have been kept.

It was morning at Emmy and Max's house. The sun had risen and the two boys had just finished eating their breakfast and getting dressed for the day.

Max, who is four years old, entered their playroom first. He was dressed in his usual clothes - a solid dark green t-shirt with a fairly thick and fuzzy light green collar, the shirt being a little small for him but not quite exposing any of his belly. He wore his heavily worn-in, baggy dark brown jeans which looked like they were just about ready to wear through in the knees. On his feet were his usual red and white velcro-fastened sneakers. His clothes were old and worn, but Max didn't care much about his appearances, and they did the job just fine.

Next, Emmy, who is six years old, came in. She was sporting her usual well-fitting red t-shirt with her blue jumper over it. The t-shirt was almost new, thick, and very fuzzy and comfortable - she liked wearing it quite a bit. She also liked her jumper very much. The jumper was fairly tight on the chest, flaring out a little at the hips and stopping just a few inches above her knees. It was made of thick but soft denim, and had a snug cotton built-in underwear on the inside, colored the same shade of blue as the rest of the jumper. Emmy wore red and white sneakers, but unlike Max's, these were high-cut and fastened with laces.

The two kids were bored today.

There's nothing fun to do. said Max.

Emmy remembered that their friend Enrique was coming over, and that he was going to share a special discovery that he had made with them. He wanted to share it with them yesterday, but hadn't been able to find a private moment.

What do you think the surprise might be, said Max. Maybe Enrique wants to teach us a new song in Spanish ... or, or, maybe he's got a new car ... or, or ... Emmy interrupted him Maybe ... but the way Enrique said it, I think it's much more special than that.

Just then, Enrique (age six, like Emmy) walked in through their playroom doorway, which was open. Enrique was dressed in his usual outfit - a thick, yellow cotton t-shirt which fit him well and an equally well-fitting pair of thick, blue denim pants. His shoes were mostly brown low-cut sneakers held closed with laces.

He noticed that Emmy and Max were too busy talking to notice him, and he crept up near them and gave both of them a strong hug, wrapping one of his arms around each of their necks and shoulders. Max didn't like being surprised and wormed his way out of Enrique's grip, but Enrique's presence made Emmy feel relaxed and comfortable, and she enjoyed the hug.

It was over all too soon, and Enrique then said I know you're both wondering what my surprise is. It's really great, but I can't show you here. Your parents might get upset if they found out. Max and Emmy didn't like worrying their parents and they really wanted to know what the surprise was, so all three decided to go to Dragon Land.

Emmy took a box out of a drawer, then opened the box. Inside the box was a dragon scale, which she held in front of her. All three children held the scale and recited the all-too familiar rhyme that takes them to Dragon Land.

Ghostly dragons swirled around the three, spinning faster and faster and more and more brightly. A few seconds later, everything became still, and the children opened their eyes. They were at the summit of a small, gently sloping, grassy hill. It was sunny outside and a reasonable 25 degrees centigrade with low humidity, which was a nice change from the hot, muggy, and overcast Florida summer weather back at home.

Standing in front of them were Cassie and Ord, two of their dragon friends. Hi Ord! and Hi Cassie! shouted Max and Emmy respectively. It's nice to see you! said Ord, giving Max a tight bear hug, after which Max squirmed and said Not so tight. You're crushing me.

Once they had made their salutations, Enrique wondered Where's Zak and Wheezie Ord said that Wheezie was having nightmares all night long, and neither could sleep, so they probably wouldn't be up before noon. Ord seemed relieved that it wasn't him having the nightmares.

Enrique then said This looks like the perfect place for me to show you now. Show us what asked Ord. Cassie was too shy to ask, but was thinking the same thing too. Enrique replied Just watch.

Enrique then proceeded to place his hand carefully over the fly of his jeans, and grabbed the fabric, rubbing it softly. Almost immediately, he felt a now-familiar pleasureable sensation in his crotch.

Do you have to pee asked Max, puzzled by Enrique's actions. No replied Enrique, Why don't you try it Ummm, o-kay, I guess.

Max then placed his hand on the fly of his jeans, and rubbed the fabric, but he neglected to grab it or to press down. I don't feel anything, said Max. Enrique walked over to Max, and demonstrated for Max, grabbing his crotch and gently rubbing it. It felt weird and new, but very good to Max. Thanks. This really is great, Max said, as he pushed Enrique's hand away and started rubbing himself, doing it properly this time.

Meanwhile, Emmy decided that whatever magic the two boys were doing would work with her. She grabbed her jumper around her crotch, pushed in slightly so the fabric pushed up against her built-in underwear, and started rubbing lightly. Just like with the boys, she felt a rush of pleasure in her crotch. Wow! It really does feel great, she said.

Cassie and Ord just watched, being very perplexed. They tried to imitate what the three kids were doing, but they didn't feel anything. They asked Enrique what they should do. Enrique replied That's odd. It worked for Emmy, for Max, and for me. Maybe it only works on humans Or ... maybe the spot that you have to touch is different on a dragon Cassie then remembered that she had caught a glance of one of her older sisters rubbing herself. Ord and she decided to go to her house and ask her sister more about this.

Emmy, Max, and Enrique said Take your time. We won't be bored. What they said was true; they were having a great time.


	2. Experimentation

All three kids enjoyed themselves for a few minutes, but Enrique felt that they could do better than just rub themselves a little. He walked over to Emmy and opened his arms to give her a hug. Emmy extended her arms out to meet him, and they started to hug. Enrique then sprung his experiment, starting to push his crotch up against Emmy's. This wasn't part of any hug Emmy had received before, but it felt good. It also left both of her hands free to hold onto Enrique with. Emmy slid one hand down Enrique's back and grabbed the seat of his jeans, while her other hand was around his chest. She squeezed him harder and Enrique responded by pushing his crotch harder into her.

While it did feel good, Max was getting bored. "I'm gonna go see what Ord and Cassie are up to. See you all later." Enrique didn't hear Max, but Emmy did manage to acknowledge "Okay."

Now Enrique and Emmy were alone. For some reason, this made both kids feel relaxed and at ease. Emmy felt like sitting down, and she broke the hug. She sat down onto the grass with her legs crossed. Enrique then stared at Emmy. She looked so nice. Her long, black hair, tied neatly into a ponytail. The bright primary colours and snug contours of her clothes. Her well-defined arms and legs. Her eyes. He just really, really liked Emmy right now. Was this what it felt like to be in love?

Enrique then sat down in front of Emmy. By now, his penis was getting stiff and it was pushing against his tighty-whities, making them and his jeans tent a little. Enrique was embarassed, since he didn't feel like he had any control over it and surely Emmy could see it. She was staring right at him, more specifically, right at his crotch. Enrique placed his hands over his bulge, trying to hide it.

Emmy noticed that Enrique's cheeks were getting awfully red and that he looked nervous, and she decided to calm him down. She leaned over and gave him a big kiss on his cheek and then whispered in his ear. "You look really cute. You don't have to be embarassed. I think it looks really nice." This made Enrique feel a little better, and he placed his arms back at his sides, letting Emmy watch.

Emmy too was getting very horny, but being a girl and wearing a jumper, nothing could be seen on the outside. Suddenly, she did a very bold move. She pushed against Enrique, causing him to fall back onto the warm grass in a lying position, with Emmy falling onto him. Enrique was now on his back and lying straight, while Emmy was lying on top of him, straddling his legs with her legs. That same urge struck again, and he started grinding his hips into Emmy. Both kids were taken aback by the feeling. It was much stronger than it had been up to now, and their instincts kicked in. Emmy could do nothing more than moan a little and she started thrusting her hips a little to meet Enrique.

Emmy was happy at her choice of clothes. The built-in underwear was secure against her crotch and didn't move as the two kids pushed against each other, preventing any blistering, while the jumper fabric was able to slide easily against the underwear, allowing motion. It worked a lot like a dry lubricant. Likewise with Enrique, his tighty whities clung snugly to his crotch while sliding around inside his jeans, also preventhing his sensitive skin from getting chafed.

Emmy started to moan Enrique's name softly. Worried at his, Enrique then stopped and asked Emmy if she was okay, afraid that her moan was a sign of pain. Emmy was a bit surprised by the sudden loss of pleasure, and she reassured Enrique that it was pure bliss, that she loved him, and that she really wanted him to continue. Enrique then resumed grinding against Emmy rolling her onto her back and rolling on top of her in the process, so that he could get better leverage.

With each push into Emmy, the feeling got stronger. It wasn't confined to his crotch anymore, but could be felt radiating throughout his entire body. His brain was being flooded with endorphins, telling him only to keep pushing harder into his lover. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he didn't care; it just felt really good.

Likewise, Emmy was overwhelmed by the ecstatic feelings that were coursing through her body. With each push against Enrique, she felt a new wave of pleasure. Everything was so soft, warm, and snug that she felt like she was being hug-attacked by a big pile of stuffed animals. She wished it would never end.

Enrique suddenly felt that he had to pee. He really didn't want to pee all over Emmy, so he told her "I think I have to pee." Emmy replied, "It's fine; I know you don't have to go, and right now I don't care if flood all of Dragon Land ... just don't leave me." Enrique's better senses told him to stop, but there were too many horomones in his brain, and he instead increased the strength of his pushes.

Both children could feel the pressure mounting as they approached their climaxes. "I can't ... hold it ... any more," said Enrique as waves of pleasure began to run through his body. "Enrique ... Enrique ... Enrique" was all that Emmy could moan in between heavy breaths. Emmy then felt the same feeling as Enrique as she too reached her orgasm, being completely engrossed by her waves of pleasure.

With their orgasms trailing off, Emmy lay still, breathing heavily, while an equally exhausted Enrique lay on top of her, panting. They just lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the last bits of pleasure and slowly coming to their senses. Enrique then rolled off of Emmy, now laying on his back, parallel and next to her. His first rational thought was to check his jeans and see just how badly he had wet himself. He placed his hands on his crotch, and he was very relieved to find that his crotch was completely dry.

Both kids were hot and sweaty, but they were used to this. It's the same kind of sweaty that they'd have after a good game of tag. Emmy let out a big yawn, and reached for Enrique's hand. Enrique was getting sleepy too, and put his hand out to meet Emmy's. Both children then quickly fell asleep on the cool grassy hill, their hands together as a reminder of how much closer they had become today.


	3. Dreams

As Emmy drifted off to sleep, her mind began to wander into the dream world. Her thoughts were happy thoughts. Enrique was there, but her other friends were with her too: There was Max, her brother, and there were Ord, Cassie, and Zak and Wheezie, her three, or is it four, dragon friends. Everyone was in a large pile, cuddling each other. Gravity, breathing, and bones didn't get in the way, but instead it was just one large fuzzy and brightly colored group of snuggly beings. Emmy was hugging Enrique, who was on top of her, but facing towards her feet. The fuzzy fabric covering his crotch was rubbing up against her face, and, reciprocally, his face was being squeezed against her crotch. Cassie was under Emmy, hugging her tightly, with her arms wrapped tightly around Emmy's chest, and her tail was trying to wrap around Emmy's ankles. Ord was on top of everyone, squeezing the whole pile tightly. Max's hands were playing in Emmy's hair.

Emmy loved her dream. It was like everything was frozen in time. Sure, everyone was squirming around a little, and both Enrique and her were grinding their hips a little, but there was no progression. She felt warm, snug, safe, and above all, loved. All of the touching felt very good on her body. In particular, she liked the touching she was giving and receiving from Enrique. His crotch, which was pressed against her face, smelled very good. It had the smell of freshly laundered clothing, but it also had another, uniquely human smell to it. Emmy wanted more of it, and she decided to see what Enrique tasted like. She opened her mouth and placed it around Enrique's bulge, getting a firm grasp on the denim with her lips, and tickling the fabric with her tongue. She could feel the warmth radiating through his clothes. Enrique's grinding was much more pleasureable now that the apex of his thrusts was in her mouth. Emmy then dreamed a very naughty thought: What if there wasn't this fabric in the way. She would then be able to taste Enrique's tender skin directly. What would it taste like. Even in her dreams, Emmy was still embarassed that she was having these thoughts - but she really wanted to know what he was like underneath his cute outfit.

Before being able to think of any fantasies involving opening Enrique's pants, Emmy's mind wandered to her own crotch. It was tightly ensconced in her built-in underwear, which itself was covered by her thick, fuzzy, and snug jumper. Enrique was rubbing his face in this area, pleasuring Emmy quite a bit. Like Emmy, he too decided to use his mouth. At first he bit into the jumper, trying to taste and probe it. He could taste a faint residue of fabric softener and he could smell both the fresh clothes and the smells coming from her private area, but he wanted more. He reached his arms around Emmy's jumper-covered rear and pushed his face hard into her crotch. He then started pushing with his tongue, feeling the underwear through the jumper and the plump object he was after through both pieces of clothing.

Cassie was also helping Emmy out. Her arms were rubbing the jumper covering Emmy's chest in slow, lazy circles. Emmy didn't feel anything too weird, but being touched anywhere felt good right now. She especially liked feeling Cassie's claws pushing into her jumper and against her ribcage. It probably would have hurt had she been naked, but the clothes distributed the force such that it was a perfect balance between too sharp and too dull. Cassie then started moving her tail up Emmy's legs. The tail was curved into a U-shape, with the tip being between Emmy's knees. Cassie rubbed the inside of Emmy's legs with her tail, slowly making her way upwards into the jumper. The tip of the tail soon abutted against the smooth and snug fabric covering her vagina, and Cassie could feel the shape of the organ through the taught fabric. She was pushing the tip of her tail against the vagina, trying to get penetration despite the clothing in the way and pushing Enrique just a tiny bit out of the way (he still had his face mostly in her crotch). The tail only went in about five centimeters, with the stretched fabric wrapped around it a little like a condom. Emmy felt really good. The fuzzy fabric tickled and massaged the inside of her vagina as Cassie kept pushing and relaxing her tail. If only this fabric wasn't in the way, Cassie surely could go in deeper, and it would feel much better.

Emmy, Enrique, and Cassie all felt like ripping off both layers of blue fabric that were covering the two kids' privates, but in this lazy stasis of a dream that Emmy was in, nothing was gonna happen soon. Everyone was just enjoying the moment, and it felt like it was never going to end. Emmy didn't want it to end. She wouldn't let it end.

Meanwhile, Enrique was dreaming too. Naturally, his mind was all over Emmy. In his dream, they were trapped in a cave near the peak of Snowy Summit. Emmy was wearing her pink snow suit, which was a one-piece combination of jacket and pants. It was a good two or three centimetres thick and very warm and fluffy. Enrique was wearing an equally thick green snow jacket and dark grey snow pants. He had a dark red knit hat on, of the kind that could very well have had a pom-pom on top. Emmy had the hood of her snowsuit.

Despite this, they were cold and the cave was dark, as only a little light managed to make its way through the snow that was trapping them inside. They were both sitting against an ice wall and shivering. Enrique took Emmy and pulled her onto his lap so that she was sitting on him as if he was a chair. Rationally, this was to help her warm up, but lust was guiding his thoughts. He moved his hands slowly over Emmy's body, feeling and looking at all her cute features. She looked so plump and hugable in her snow suit. She felt good to the touch too, feeling the smooth texture as his hands slid across the synthetic material. He felt the zipper in the front that held the suit closed, and made sure it was all the way zipped, so that she wouldn't get cold.

He then wrapped his arms around Emmy's chest, his hands holding her tightly against him, and he pushed his face up against the hood covering her head. He then decided that moving would help him stay warm too, so he did the only thing that his lust would let him do; he started to grind up against Emmy's rear end and to vigorously rub the chest of Emmy's snowsuit with his arms while rubbing his legs against Emmy's. Emmy moaned from the sudden rush of pleasure. This time Enrique knew what the moaning meant, and he rubbed more vigorously in response.

Emmy wanted to start moving her body too, which she couldn't do well in her current position, so she turned herself around, so that she was kneeling, with her knees between Enrique's legs and her body pressed against his, doing this carefully so as to not interrupt her friend.

Enrique and Emmy were well warmed up by now and starting to get a little winded, so Enrique let himself slowly slide into a lying-down position while letting Emmy lie on top of him. Emmy was now returning the favour, and vigorously grinding against him and rubbing him with all four of her limbs. Soon enough she was sweating and Enrique noticed her face starting to become a little red instead of the pale blue that it had been before.

Enrique felt quite giddy inside, because this was the perfect excuse to experiment with taking off her clothes. First to go was the hood, which only took one good push of Enrique's hands. She had a mild case of hat hair, but to Enrique her black ponytailed locks were beautiful. He was able to smell her hair, which only had a faint smell of scalp - apparently Emmy left her hair natural just like he did. Enrique was tempted to play with her hair, but his eyes moved down and spotted the zipper that was holding her snow suit snugly around her body. He didn't want to interrupt the moment, so he asked Emmy for permission by grabbing the zipper with his left hand and jiggling it a little, which didn't unzip anything but let her know by touch what he wanted to do. Emmy slowed down a bit and deepened her smile, and Enrique felt that he had her permission. He then grabbed the collar of the snow suit next to the zipper with his right hand, and Emmy kept smiling. "Last chance; are you sure you want to do this?" thought Enrique to himself, pulling the zipper down a few millimeters. All Emmy did was give him a quick kiss on the lips, so Enrique pushed his left hand down and his right hand up, causing the zipper to come undone in one long hissing motion.

Inside the snow suit, Enrique was able to see that Emmy was wearing her usual red t-shirt and blue jumper. Emmy stood up for a moment and let Enrique slip the suit off her shoulders and then down into a crumpled pile on the floor. She then lay back down on Enrique and resumed her actions.

Enrique now wanted to get out of his clothes, and since it was his dream, Emmy telepathically knew what to do. First he needed to get off the cold, snowy ground, so the cave became a regular cave with a rock floor instead of the snow cave that they were in. Emmy then started kissing Enrique's face, slowly working up towards the rim of his hat. She used her nose to push off the hat, which then lay crumped on the floor behind Enrique. "Let's get you out of these hot clothes." Emmy whispered to him, to which Enrique spread himself out like he was going to make a snow angel.

Enrique then French kissed Emmy while her hands went to work. Soon Enrique heard a hissing sound, and he could feel his chest and then his stomach get looser and his fluffy jacket came open. Emmy then pulled his arms against his hips and carefully slid Enrique backwards a few feet, helping him to slide out of his jacket. The bright yellow t-shirt looked so cute on Enrique, especially since they were in an otherwise dark and gloomy cave. Enrique was busy with his tongue inside of Emmy's mouth, but he was able to notice his jacket falling off, especially how the cold air was able to start taking away some of his excess body heat. Emmy then looked at Enrique and thought how handsome he looked. This made Enrique feel warm inside, since it was his dream and he could feel her thoughts telepathically. Emmy then focused on his pants. She got off of him, breaking the kiss, and told him to stand up for a moment.

Enrique was happy but nervous. He knew that Emmy intended to take off all three layers of clothing in one big pull, and he had never shown his privates to a girl before. Still, he really wanted Emmy to touch him directly, and he got up and stood in front of Emmy. He was staring at her lover, trying to take his mind off his pants by staring at her cute body. Every color on her looked delicious - her black hair, her tan face, her red shirt, her blue jumper. Emmy knelt down and grabbed the button on his snow pants and pulled on it. There was a pop as the snap button came open, followed by a short hiss as the fly failed. With the snow pants still hanging onto his hips, Emmy put one hand around his jeans button and the other hand on the fabric that the button went through, ready to let this next layer open. Emmy could feel Enrique shaking a little through the jeans; he was really nervous.

Emmy had an idea just then. She left the button alone, and instead dove her hand deep into his jeans, sliding them on the outside of his tighty-whities. Enrique liked this, as he realized that he was just afraid of being seen, not touched. The pleasure quickly erased any remaining doubts and she tenderly caressed his bulge. Pretty soon he was getting awfully eager, and he told Emmy to go deeper. Emmy then pulled her hand up and then pushed back in, this time going into the underwear, wrapping her fingers around his stiff shaft. It felt as good as he imagined it would. Without clothing to dull the feeling, he could feel every little movement that Emmy did. He then felt that same feeling he had felt earlier - the pressure was building and he felt like he had to pee again. Emmy noticed this, and used her free hand to rip down his snow pants a few decimeters and snugly, almost violently, started clawing and grabbing at the seat of Enrique's jeans.

This pushed him over the edge. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed every moment of his orgasm, which only remained a dry dream on account of his age. As he came down off of his high, he cuddled up with Emmy and went to sleep, happily ending his dream.


	4. Preparations

Meanwhile, Cassie, Ord, Zak and Wheezie, and Max had taken the time to inquire about why the dragons weren't able to get the feelings that human children could. They first went to Cassie's house, and Cassie asked her sister what her trick was. She told them to ask Quetzel; he could explain it much better than she could as he was their teacher and an old, wise, and caring dragon.

So, the group set out for the School in the Sky, reaching it after a short flight. They found Quetzal inside, who greeted them warmly: "Hola, niños." The children were happy to hear Quetzal's reassuring voice. "What seems to be the matter?", asked Quetzel, to which Ord replied "Well, when Max touches himself here (pointing between his legs), it feels really good, and when Emmy touches herself, it feels really good too, and, but, when I do it, I just don't feel anything." "Ah, I see," said the wise dragon. "It's actually quite simple. Humans are born able to feel pleasure just by touching themselves, but dragons are special. They need to prove that they are ready for these special feelings and emotions." "So, what do we do?" said Ord is his usual low voice, to which Quetzal said "Ah, I'm glad you asked. You need to activate your dragon badge by helping out a friend. It can't be any friend, but must be a friend that you truly, deeply care for ... I have an idea: Why don't you go into the cave network under the Stickleback Mountains and bring me a butterfly crystal.

This is a very rare and special crystal that only grows under extreme pressure. The crystal has many tiny planes, each of which reflects light, creating a beautiful and sparkling display of colors[1]." Cassie then shyly added in: "I know this crystal is beautiful, but, uh, how does it help us with our badges."

"A very good question. For you, Cassie, it will build confidence and leadership, which is why I am selecting you to be the leader of the expedition. For Ord, it will build courage and bravery, which travelling to such a dark place will build." Ord interrupted "Oh, that doesn't sound so good." Max climbed onto Ord and patted the scales on his head, saying "Don't worry, we'll all be with you, and you can hold our extra flashlights. That way you don't have to worry about the dark." "And can I carry the food?," to which Emmy chipped in "Just don't eat it all." "Don't worry. Just having the food in my pouch makes me feel better."

There was a short pause, and then Quetzel continued: "As for you, Zak and Wheezie, this will give you a great opportunity to learn how to understand each other better. As such, I am placing both of you in charge of selecting and preparing provisions for your trip." "That'll be easy," said Zak. "Love it! We'll need drums to scare off any ghosts and trumpets in case any of us get lost," shouted Wheezie in her high-pitched voice. The two dragons began to bicker, but Quetzel and the other children moved to the other side of the classroom and he was about to continue.

"Hey, where's Enrique?" shouted Max. "Oh no," said Cassie, "we left them back on the grassy hill." "Not to worry, niños. Zak and Wheezie, would you mind finding and bringing Max and Enrique back to the school?" "I'd be glad to," said Zak, while Wheezie responded "I'll LOVE IT!" in her loud, high-pitched voice that made Zak wince a little.

Wheezie and Zak flew over to the sunny hill where they had left Emmy and Enrique, and they were still there, sleeping. They landed a few meters away from the couple, and they looked at them. "Don't they look so peaceful?", said Zak, to which Wheezie interjected "They're so CUTE!" "Shhhhh. You'll wake them up."

Enrique and Emmy rubbed their eyes and then opened them. Emmy slowly sat up, letting out a large yawn and holding her arms over her head. Enrique then let out a yawn in sympathy. Zak apologized for his sister's actions: "I'm sorry that my sister's loud yelling woke you up, but I couldn't stop her." Wheezie had a frown on her face, not liking the insult coming from Zak.

"It's okay.", said Emmy. Enrique then asked "Did you find out anything?" Before Zak could answer, Wheezie answered for him, saying "I'm sure you'll love it. We need to go to the School in the Sky right away. I'll fill you in on the way there."

Enrique and Emmy climbed onto Zak and Wheezie, and they flew back to the School in the Sky.

Enrique, Emmy, and Zak and Wheezie ran through the doorway into the classroom and then stopped, panting. "Is everyhing all-right?" asked Max, to which Wheezie said "We're better then all-right. They came here as fast as we could as soon as they heard what's going on."

Quetzel then proceeded: "Let me continue. Emmy, as the scientist of the group, you will be in charge of identifying the crystal and safely transporting it back to the surface." Emmy was happy to be given this task, and politely thanked Quetzel after he had given her a small book filled with scientific information about crystals.

"So what do WE do?" said Max, putting his arm around Enrique's waist so that Quetzel could see who he meant by we.

"Enrique, you have the very important task of navigation. You will help the team find their way in the caves and not get lost."

"As for you, Max, you have the most important task of all. You need to make sure that everyone is happy. Caves can be a lonely and scary place, and you will need Max's boundless enthusiasm and Enrique's sweet charm if you are to succeed." "Don't worry," said Max confidently, "I'm really good at having fun." In his mind he was thinking of the new ways of having fun that involved touching, as well as the usual loud energetic activities that he likes.

Now that everyone had their assigned roles, the children started to leave the classroom, eager to make their plans and preparations. Enrique was about to leave too, when Quetzel called him over.

"Enrique, come here." "Tienes una problema?" replied Enrique. "I want to share with you these two items that you will need on your trip. This first item is a map of the caves. Here, open it up." Emmy opened up the book, in which each pair of pages depicted a different vertical layer of the caves, like a map of a large and complex video game dungeon. "What are all these light-blue lines on the map for?" asked Emmy. "Ah, that's what this second item is for. It's called a barometer[2]. It measures how far down you've gone, and the lines on the map correspond to numbers you'll see on the barometer when you arrive there." "So they work just like the lines on the hiking maps we used to use back home in Colombia?" asked Enrique. "Si, exactamente.", Quetzel replied with a smile. He patted Enrique in his hair and, after addressing everyone "If you have any questions before you go, ask me.", Quetzel went to a corner of the classroom and began tidying up a cabinet. Enrique placed the two items into the front pockets of his jeans, and walked out of the school to join the other children.

Outside of the school, all of the children were busy preparing. Enrique sat down on a bench and started studying his map book and barometer, to familiarize himself with them. Emmy sat down next to him. Just being near Enrique made her feel good, but now wasn't the time for play, so both kids excercised self-restraint and focused on their books, knowing that they would have plenty of time later to have fun with each other. She sat close to Enrique, jumper touching jeans a little to let each other know that they were still there, but other than that they just sat and read.

Cassie felt very shy about her role. Quetzel had placed her as leader. Cassie knew that leaders had to be confident to be good leaders, and Cassie's knees were trembling just at the thought of having been assigned the role of leader. "Why didn't I speak up and tell Quetzel that I would make a bad leader? Emmy or Max or Enrique or even Ord or Zak would have made much better leaders than me." thought Cassie to herself.

Max noticed that Cassie had her head down and she was facing away from the rest of the group, and decided that, being in change of fun and morale, it was his duty to cheer Cassie up. He walked up next to Cassie, reached up, and placed his hand on her shoulder (Cassie, even though she is the smallest of the dragons, is still almost twice as tall as Max). "Cassie, what's wrong?" asked Max. Cassie explained to him how she thinks Quetzel made a mistake and asked Max to go tell Quetzel for him. Max saw right through this, and instead told Cassie "You'll make a fine leader. I just know you will, and, if you have any questions, you can always ask me." "Are you sure?" "Definitely," answered Max, doing an Emmy impression. Cassie chuckled a little and a smile returned to her face.

Things weren't going so well for Zak and Wheezie. They couldn't agree on what to pack. Zak wanted plenty of pillows, bandages (both adhesive and traditional), kneepads, elbow pads, and helmets, along with at least 20 spare batteries for each flashlight (he wasn't afraid of the dark like Ord, but he sure didn't want to run out of supplies). Wheezie wanted to bring colorful pendant, a drum, a trumpet, party hats (you can never be too prepared), assorted balls, and a jack-in-the-box. It quickly degenerated into bickering.

Cassie didn't know what to do. She hadn't even been leader for ten minutes and already those two were fighting. Fortunately, Max stepped up to her and whispered in her ear "Tell them they need to compromise. Zak can bring exactly 20 kg of whatever supplies he thinks we'll need, and Wheezie can bring exactly 20 kg of whatever supplies she thinks we'll need. As the leader, you need to set the rules sometimes." "Okay, I guess," said Cassie in a low voice, followed by "Yes, I will tell them!" in a much more confident voice. In fact, she was so confident that she interrupted Zak and Wheezie, who simultaneously asked "Tell us what?" "You can both bring what we need. Zak, you can bring up to 20 kg of pillows and helmets and all the other important safety gear we'll need, and Wheezie, you can bring 20 kg of toys and horns and all the other fun stuff we'll need to, well, have fun down there." Neither Zak nor Wheezie were able to argue with that.

Ord was preparing by gorging on a nearby bush of dragonberries. He ate one berry, then place one in his horde, ate another, placed another in his horde, and so on until both his belly and his horde were quite full. "You can never be too prepared." thought Ord, purple dragonberry juice slightly leaking out of his mouth.

All of the children continued to prepare diligently for their excursion, with Zak and Wheezie, the last of the two, being finished right before sundown. "It's getting late." said Ord. "Then we'll see you tomorrow," said Max, with Enrique adding "bright and early;" and Emmy a "definitely." The three humans said their goodbyes and said the rhyme to go back home.

The three children were exhausted from their long day and couldn't even be bothered to change into their pyjamas, instead just brushing their teeth, doing a quick pee, and retiring to their beds. As much as Max, Emmy, and Enrique did want to explore each other, all three were way to tired for fun tonight. Instead, Max just said "Goodnight Emmy; Goodnight Enriuqe; I love you." Emmy had never heard Max say that, but considering that she loved all of her friends, she liked it and replied "I love you too." Enrique replied with a simple goodnight, though he made up for it by crawling over to each of his friends by and whispering it in their ear, followed by a friendly lick to the ear. He then lied down too, curled himself into his sheets, and dritfted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Technical Note: The colors are created through destructive and constructive interference, and is the same process by which butterfly wings and bubbles have color. The materials are naturally white, but their thicknesses are on the order of the length of a single wave of visible light, allowing the wave properties of light to create beautiful patterns.
> 
> [2] Technical Note: A barometer is a device used to measure air pressure. Common Earthly uses of barometers are in explaining the weather (low pressure = rain, high pressure = sunny) and as altimeters for aircraft (low pressure = higher altitude). In Dragon Land, pressure at sea level is a nearly constant 101.3 kPa, as there are no large-scale weather patterns or convection, and a barometer will work as a precise measurement of your altitude above or below sea level. Barometric maps as used in the story don't exist (aside from weather maps), but given the stable conditions in Dragon Land and lacking GPS or Loran-C transmitters, it would be an invaluable tool in a cave. The lines on the map are called isobars and denote areas of equal pressure, which, in the abscence of weather, function the same as contour lines.


	5. Darkness

The sun had yet to clear the horizon when Emmy slowly awoke in her bed. The first hints of dawn were coming in through the window. She was so excited about all the adventures they were going to have today. She looked around her room, seeing Enrique sleeping on the floor between her bed and Max's bed. Both kids had thrown their sheets off, since Florida nights usually stay quite warm and this one had been no exception. They both looked cute and peaceful. Emmy felt bad about what she was about to do, but it had to be done. She took one more look at the two innocent boys and then ...

Emmy turned on the lights. Enrique was the first to open his eyes, sitting up and stretching while giving a loud yawn. The light reflected off of his bright yellow shirt, contrasting well with his black hair. Emmy thought he looked cuter than usual. "Hi Emmy. Do you know what time it is?" Max said in a grumpy but still cute way, saying it over a yawn of his own. Emmy then turned her eyes to Max. He had propped his back up against the wall, half sitting, half still lying down. His barely opened eyes looked like those of a cat who had a nap on his mind. Emmy then remembered to reply to his query, saying "It's time to go see our friends. Ord, Cassie, and Zak and Wheezie are all waiting for us!" with a loud voice to help wake the two sleepyheads. "Oh yeah. Let's go!" said Max.

Emmy was one step ahead of the two boys, and told them that they'll probably be spending the night in Dragon Land. Luckily time doesn't pass the same way here as it does in Dragon Land, so their parents won't get worried as they won't actually miss a day on Earth, but they still need to pack whatever they'll need.

Max scratched his crotch, forcing out the stale air in his jeans and underwear and trying to dry his slightly sweaty privates. Sleeping in his pants hadn't been such a swell idea, even if it was the lazy and convenient thing to do. "I'm going to bring my jammies," he told Emmy, who thought it was a good idea and went to fetch both his and her pyjamas. "Enrique, did you bring your pyjamas?" Enrique responded that he did, and he fetched them out of his backpack. They were a pair of soft, warm, stretchy, felt-like dark green pyjamas, which were held up around the waist by a snug elastic band and an optional drawstring. The top consisted of a long-sleeve shirt of the same material. Both the shirt and the pants had stretchy material on the hems to ensure an air-tight but comfortable seal around the neck, wrists, ankles, and between the shirt and pants. Emmy folded them carefully and placed them in Enrique's backpack.

She then went back to the open dresser, rummaged around a bit, and pulled out Max's pyjamas. They were a one-piece dark-blue outfit that covered just about his entire body. Only the head and the two hands stuck out. They even had feet on the bottom so that his toes wouldn't get cold at night. The pyjamas were made of a warm felt-like but non-elastic material, which was cut quite loose so as to allow unconstrained movement. They were held closed by three buttons that ran down the front. "Yeah, I love those." said Max, and then Emmy proceeded to fold them and placed them in Max's backpack.

Lastly, she pulled out her pyjamas. They were two-piece pyjamas, like Enrique's, but without any elastic fittings (other than the waistband), like Max's. They had a print design of golden dragons over a red backgroud, with the fabric being similar to Max's, but a little less fuzzy. The shirt was held together by three buttons, and the pants were held up by an elastic and a drawstring. She folded them and placed them in her backpack.

Max then decided to bring some food. Seeing as Emmy had taken care of his clothes, he went to the kitchen and prepared food for the three of them. Dragonberries do taste good, but it would be nice to have some other food as well. He made a dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, secured two baguettes (a crunchy type of French bread in the shape of a stick), got a plastic bottle of peanuts, and filled a large flask with about five liters of water. He brought them back their bedroom and Emmy carefully distributed them among the three backpacks.

Enrique felt like he hadn't been helping out. "Is there something I could do?" Emmy reassured him, telling him that being the navigator is a big task, and that she loves him.

The three children then went into the playroom, took the dragon scale, recited the rhyme, and were whisked away to Dragon Land.

Ord, Wheezie and Zak, and Cassie were all waiting for them. The three materialized in front of Ord, who proceeded to give them one of his traditional hugs, eliciting a "You're squishing me!" out of the smallest child. Zak then gave everyone a flashlight, and remembering what Ord had asked, gave Ord twenty extra batteries and both spare flashlights.

"What are we waiting for. Let's go!" said an overly enthusiastic Wheezie, and the three humans mounted their dragons, Enrique riding Zak and Wheezie, Emmy riding Cassie, and Max riding on Ord's back. With a push of their legs, the dragons rapidly rose into the sky. Within a few minutes, they had reached a cruising altitude of around 500 meters (1/3rd of a mile for people who prefer customary measure).

Dragon Land was beautiful when seen from the sky. Below them was the School in the Sky, the caves and knuckerholes that the dragons lived in, and the large, grassy commons in front of the school where most activities were organized. In front of them were the Stickleback Mountains, which were a series of steep peaks that resembled stalagmites in shape, although they were at least a thousand times larger. How they resisted the pull of gravity or had been uplifted in the first place was a mystery. Unlike on Earth, there were no farms. Despite their large size, dragons are fruitivores, subsisting on the abundant dragonberries, and had no need for cultivation. Instead, the rolling hills of the lowlands below them were a series of woods and copses, of clearings and meadows, and of streams and ponds. Behind them was Snowy Summit, a tall mountain in the shape of a stratovolcano with most of it's surface covered by clean, white snow. Hills and mountains extended as far as the eye could see in all other directions, but the children weren't able to recognize any more of them.

They made good time through the windless atmosphere, reaching the entrance of the cave in about half an hour. The dragons landed and the humans dismounted, Max sliding down Ord's back like it was a slide, while Enrique and Emmy got off in a mannar similar to how a human dismounts a horse. Enrique read the barometer. It read 97.3 kPa, which corresponded to what his map said it should be at the entrance. The group took a few steps into the narrowing opening of the cave, stepping out of the direct sunlight and into the shade. "So this is it," said Enrique. "Ahead of us is the largest" "and darkest," added Ord "cave in all of Dragon Land." Everyone took out their flashlights and turned them on, and the group proceeded to enter the cave, the leader Cassie leading the way with Enrique at her side to direct her.

The air inside was cool but dry. The first kilometer or so consisted of a slightly winding but mostly straight lava tube, roughly 5 meters in diamater. Within two hundred paces, the only light that remained was the glow from their flashlights. Ord was very scared, but was able to keep it in for now. They soon arrived at a small chamber, with a smaller tube branching off and the main tube continuing ahead of them. Ord couldn't keep his fears in anymore, and said "I'm really scared. What if we get lost. This place looks like a maze, or, it would look like a maze if I could see, but all there is is black. Help me Max."

Max was more than happy to help. He climbed up on Ord, straddled his legs around his neck to get a better grip, and then leaned forward. Ord was pleasantly surprised to see Max's face right in front of his face, and upside down no less. "You're funny" he said, giggling a little. Max sat upright again, seated on Ord's head, suggesting "Those dragonberries in your horde are smelling awfully tasty." Ord liked this idea. "Here, let me help you down." Ord said, as he raised his arms. Max then lowered his legs in front of Ord's face, and Ord grabbed Max under his armpits with a firm grab, which left Max without any doubts of being dropped. He then lowered Max to the ground, and Max dug into Ord's horde.

Each hand came back up with a plump dragonberry. "For my best friend." said Max, as he handed one of them to Ord, who proptly ate it in one bite. Max started chewing on his dragon berry the way a rodent nibbles at a nut. It could have been messy, but the usually reckless Max was careful not to get any dragonberry juice on his shirt, since it wouldn't be easy to get a change of clothes and he figured sticky clothes might get in the way of the fun he wanted to have with Ord after he lit up his badge. Ord couldn't be satisfied with just one dragonberry and grabbed a heaping handful out of his horde, which with Ord's large size meant a good twenty to fourty kilos of food. Just like the single dragonberry, they all went down in one large, juicy, and messy bite.

"Ord, lift me up" said Max, having a tasty idea. Ord grabbed Max under his armpits securely, and lifted him up to his face. Max then proceeded to lick the juice off of his muzzle, cleaning him and getting a tasty treat at the same time. "Thanks Max. Ooh, that tickles. Not so fast." Ord enjoyed the treatment and attention. Max's tongue felt good on his sensitive muzzle, each lick getting rid of a little more of the sticky juice. Ord's dragon badge started to glow and hum. Max noticed and told him "Look at your badge. It's glowing." "Oh, I did do it. I was scared because it was dark, but then you helped me out, and made me forget completely about how dark it was, and now my badge is glowing, and we're going to have lots of fun. Thanks Max." Max smiled for a moment, then licked the last of the juice off of Ord's face. It felt different this time. Before it just tickled a bit, but now the feel of his small friend's tongue sent a small wave of pleasure underneath his skin.[1]

Max noticed the smile in Ord's face, and tried licking him again a little more forcefully. "Keep doing it" was all Ord could say. Max kept licking at his face, licking as hard as he could and enjoying how he was making Ord so happy. He then tried rubbing his hair against Ord's nose. It did feel good, but it wasn't a wise idea. "Max, I, I, have to" as he was building up a sneeze. Being the good dragon that he was, he carefully put Max down and then let out his huge sneeze, facing his face down one of the lava tubes so that none of his friends would feel the effect. Ord figured it might be easier to touch each other if he was on Max's level, so he lied down belly-first. Just Ord's head was large enough that it came up a few centimeters above Max's belt, and Max was standing.

Max gave Ord a full-body hug, his shoes wedged under Ord's chin, his crotch against his nose, and his fluffy black hair tickling Ord's closed eyelids. It was bliss to Ord. Never before had a hug felt so good. He wanted more of Max. He opened his mouth a bit and stuck out his tongue, reaching up a little to taste whatever that good smelling part of Max was that was rubbing up against his nose. The coarse texture of the brown denim felt nice to his tongue and he enjoyed the heat and odors that were seeping out. Max had sweat a good amount during the night, filling the crotch of his jeans with plenty of smell and taste for Ord. Having his privates licked, even if there was a thick, protective layer of denim sheltering him and keeping his penis dry, felt wonderful to Max. He continued to return the favor by licking Ord's exposed face and rubbing his unruly hair against the upper part of Ord's face.

Max suddenly had a naughty idea. "Hey Ord, would you want to lick what's under my clothes?" Ord loved that idea. His jeans were good, but underneath might be even better. "That's a great idea," he said, while still vigorously rubbing Max's cotton fabric. Normally Max would be worried about merely showing his underwear, but he was getting close to his orgasm and didn't care right now. He lifted his head up off of Ord's face so that he could see and pointed his flashlight downwards, the light brightly illuminating his slightly bulging brown crotch. His free hand set to work sabotaging his pants, starting with the belt. He pulled the free end out of the belt loops of his jeans, so that the buckle could be undone. He then pulled on the belt a bit and let it go, causing the buckle to lose its grip. He pulled on the buckle, completely removing the belt in one long motion. Max liked having his jeans ride high, but even without a belt, they were at no risk of falling off or even exposing his underwear, as the copper button in the front held his waistband together.

Both Ord and Max were on the edge. Max had one hand on his button, trying to coax it to release its grip, but it was hard to do with all the endorphins rushing through his brain. Heck, sometimes Max had to ask Emmy for help, and that was when he was totally calm. Ord had started rythmically nudging his nose against his crotch, and the double attack of tongue and nose, even through that brown fuzzy layer, was too much. Max could no longer be bothered, dropping his flashlight and leaving his button alone. With both hands he cradled Ord's cheeks, and started humping vigorously against his friend's nose.

All Ord could manage to moan was "Max ... harder please ... Max." Max liked hearing his name, and knowing that his friend loved what he was doing as much as he did, he rammed his thick denim even harder against his friend's face. It was too much for both boys, and soon they were enjoying their first orgasms.

Max's skin felt warm, tickly, and especially good all over. Waves of pleasure radiated from his crotch, making him even happier each time a wave reached his brain. Ord was feeling a similar sensation. It was mostly confined to his head, but it was strong. Instead of waves, he felt powerful pulses of pleasure, the brain both receiving and emitting the signal. His face, even the parts that weren't up against Max, felt an intense sensation, and Ord was enjoying every moment of it.

Their orgasms finished, Ord closed his eyes and Max collapsed onto Ord, resting on his head and curled up in the fetal position. Both boys had large smiles on their faces, and they were so happy that they came to the cave. Ord was willing to go into 1,000 more caves just to have one more experience like this with Max.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Author's Note: Since sex naturally isn't in the Dragon Tales canon, I've taken the liberty of deciding how it works with dragons. It does take two dragons to make a fertile egg, but sex isn't used in the process (instead, it's a form of magic, a little like how dragons can fly, and it is a completely platonic and willful act). Instead, sex is something that dragons do for fun and, in child dragons, it must be earned by activating their dragon badges. Not being needed for reproduction, they have no genitals, and aren't particularly sensitive in that area. Instead, they are most sensitive on their faces. Behind the ears, under the neck, and the tip of the tail are other sensitive spots. Dragons can have orgasms, but lacking genitals, there are no fluids emitted, even among adult dragons.


	6. Passing Time

While Max was busy comforting Ord's fears, the other children were using their time productively. Enrique, Cassie, and Emmy sat down against the black igneous wall of the small chamber they were in. Cassie sat in the middle, with Enrique on her right and Emmy on her left. All three were using their flashlights to study their materials. Enrique checked his barometer - it said 99.0 kPa, which corresponded to where he believed they were on the map, and he marked his map with their current location. Cassie made an entry into her log book: "Day 0, 11:35, 99.0 kPa, in a small chamber under the Stickleback Mountains. Air is cool but dry. Ord was scared of the dark, but Max looks like he's having a great time cheering him up."

Emmy was reading her book on crystals. It said that rainbow crystals are a metamorphic mineral, found in inclusions in igneous intrusions where the magma cools slowly under pressures of at least 85 MPa (found at a depth of several kilometres of rock under most conditions - note that this is the pressure in the rock, not air pressure). She aimed her flashlight at the rock floor, and concluded that the lava tube they were in was the right kind of rock, but it had cooled far too fast to create any crystals, and besides, they were far too close to the surface for rainbow crystals to form.

She conferred with Enrique and Cassie. Enrique placed the book on Cassie's lap, and Emmy proceeded to skim the maps while Cassie and Enrique searched. All three children were very curious people, and while Emmy was definitely the most gifted scientifically, Cassie and Enrique knew enough to follow along, somewhat at least. Emmy was looking for a spot on the map with the right conditions. Over the course of about 10 minutes of scanning, she made note of three places on the map that had promising conditions: They were all places where the cave passages took a series of two sharp right angles, in the shape of a lightning bolt symbol, they were all at a depth of at least 4,000 meters, and they passages leading to them had the same general shape as the lava tube they had just travelled down, indicating that magma had indeed been present in those areas.

Emmy and Cassie's work was done for the moment, while Enrique took the marked map and began the fairly time-intensive process of plotting routes. Emmy and Cassie, on the other hand, were free to let their eyes wander to Ord and Max. At this point, Ord's badge was already glowing and Max was hugging Ord's face. Emmy quickly became aroused, though Cassie had little reaction other than being curious and thinking that Max and Ord looked cute together.

Emmy had her free hand on her lap. She absent-mindedly started softly rubbing the part of her jumper covered her crotch. Cassie asked "What's that supposed to do?", her flashlight trained on the blue fabric. Emmy really wanted to share her feelings with Cassie. It was very frustrating to her that Cassie needed her dragon badge lit up to enjoy what she was feeling. Still, she was going to try her best to make Cassie happy.

She stood up, turned around, and kneeled down in front of Cassie. Cassie was about twice her height and very plump, and she fit perfectly inside Cassie's slouched form. Her black ponytailed hair rubbed comfortably against Cassie's neck, her arms were wrapped through Cassie's armpits with the hands just barely reaching her back, her crotch rested against Cassie's stomach, her knees were on the floor, in between Cassie's legs, and her feet were behind her, as she was kneeling.

Emmy pulled with her arms, pressing her face against Cassie's collarbone and chest and her crotch against Cassie's chest and stomach. She then started tickling Emmy with her tongue, which made her laugh, as Cassie was ticklish. Emmy was feeling quite good right now, as her privates were being somewhat stimulated by rubbing up against Cassie's scales through the jumper, the jumper fabric sliding over the built-in underwear as Emmy flexed and relaxed her muscles, reducing the small chance of the jumper fabric being caught in the scales to zero (as there was no relative movement between the jumper and Cassie's body). The feeling on Emmy's face was good too, with her facial, forehead, and scalp nerves responding to the scaly yet tender skin under Cassie's neck.

Cassie liked the attention, the warmth, and being so close to her friend and her heart felt warm and cared for, but it just couldn't be compared to what Emmy was feeling. She knew it was due to the badge and that Emmy would only be acting the way she was if it was an extremely pleasant activity, so she decided to help her out. She slipped one of her hands in between the jumper and her stomach, placing one of her five centimeter long nails against the jumper, right over her vagina. She could have placed it inside the jumper, but she knew that her nails were sharp, and the several millimetres of durable fabric that her nail was pressed against would ensure that no damage would occur to Emmy's circulatory system or to her epidermis. The inside of the underwear was also very smooth, slippery, wrinkle-free, and would work as a great material to stimulate her vagina. It was a great idea. With Emmy's next push, the underwear and jumper were pushed into her vagina, with the hard nail ensuring there was plenty of pressure against her walls. It sent a much sharper wave of pleasure through her body. Emmy pushed much harder next time, sending the cloth-covered finger well into her cavity and pleasuring an ever larger amount of skin. She was rapidly approaching her limit, and starting to moan in Cassie's lap.

Cassie had never seen Emmy act like this before, so she pulled Emmy's head back a bit and looked at her face. Emmy's eyes were closed and she was wearing a huge smile. Her cheeks were red and she was breathing heavily. Cassie could empathically feel that Emmy was having a good time, so her worries subsided. Her fears gone, she now enjoyed hearing her name, and took her other hand and wrapped it around Emmy's rear end, pulling Emmy into her in sync with Emmy's pelvic thrusts, knowing that Emmy would enjoy it, even if the only pleasure she got out of it was in her heart.

It only took three more thrusts with Cassie helping for Emmy to reach her orgasm. The muscle contractions of her vagina walls against Cassie's finger increased the pleasure even farther, making Emmy a very happy girl. Each contraction felt better than the previous one, and she gave a few final thrusts of her hips before slouching down, her body full or warmth and with a large smile on her face. Cassie felt warm in her heart too, feeling good that she had helped her friend have such a good time. She moved Emmy around so that she was holding her the way a human adult would hold a baby, and curled Emmy up in her lap. They had a lot of walking to do, and she wanted to let Emmy enjoy the moment.

With Emmy almost sleeping in her lap, she looked at Max and Ord. They were just finishing up, with Max and Ord both orgasming. She noticed that Max's belt was on the floor, and she was afraid that his pants were open in the front, since she was shy and wasn't comfortable yet with the idea of seeing her friends naked.

After giving the three winded children a little time to relax and noticing that Enrique looked ready, she slowly lifted Emmy onto her feet, placing her into a standing position, and softly whispering into her ear that she needs to get up. Once she realized that she had fallen asleep, she gave Cassie a big hug around her head, and loudly said "That was great, Cassie! Thank you so much."

Cassie walked over to Max, and did to him like she did to Emmy. As she lifted him off of Ord, she was relieved to see the boy's clothes still properly fastened, the belt appearing to be the only thing he had lost. She placed the sleepy boy on his feet, holding him upright with one hand while the other took the belt off the floor and tenderly placed it through his belt loops. She whispered softly into his ear that they needed to get going, and, as the final movement to finish putting on his belt, she gave a big tug, which didn't constrain his waist but merely gave him a jolt to finish waking him up. Max yawned and said "Okay, I'm ready. Oh, and thanks for looking after me." as he gave Cassie a little hug. Cassie's dragon badge began to glow. Apparently she was excercising good leadership in waking up the sleepy children. As much as she wanted to experience what Emmy, Max, and Ord had just felt, she knew that being a good leader meant that they had to get moving now. Other opportunities would surely come up, probably sooner than later.

Zak, who had been waiting the whole time, was bored and impatient, and it's a good thing they didn't stay any longer. Wheezie had started singing her usual loud songs as she was getting bored too, and it might have degenerated into a fight if they had been left idle for a few more minutes. Ord was the last to rise, giving out a huge yawn that could be heard echoing through the cave as he got up, apparently very relaxed and good to go. Enrique and Cassie then led the way, taking the downwards sloping lava tube and progressing deeper into the mountain.


	7. Descent

This lava tube had a fairly steep grade, about negative fifteen degrees according to Enrique's map. Even considering that all three human children were wearing rubber-soled sneakers which provided more than enough traction for the moment, Enrique stopped. They were at a T-junction. The tube continued ahead and behind them, while a large crack in the wall exposed what appeared to be a nearly horizontal passage through limestone. "The tube ahead of us plunges down vertically for two thousand metres;" said Enrique, "there is no way we could climb down that."

Cassie had a good idea, and while she usually liked to keep ideas to herself out of shyness, she was feeling empowered at the time, probably due to the events a short while back. She piped in "Dragons can fly, and Emmy, Max, and Enrique can ride on us." Zak was afraid, saying "It sounds dangerous," while Wheezie was all excited, exclaiming "It sounds fun!" The seven friends decided that flying down should be safe enough; they'd descend slowly and use Zak's safety equipment to prevent any bruises. In the worst case, which would be if one of the human children fell off their dragon, they could quickly recite the rhyme and be transported to safety. Zak got out all the safety equipment: Seven helmets, fourteen kneepads, fourteen elbow pads, three harnesses, and about a half-dozen medium to large pillows. Ord took out his two spare flashlights, and everyone made sure they had fresh batteries installed. Our protagonists put on their safety gear, with all the pillows being tied to Zak's half of the conjoined dragon's body. Emmy helped Cassie tie a flashlight around the tip of her tail, Max helped Ord, and Enrique helped Wheezie and Zak.

Emmy climbed onto Cassie's back. Both of them enjoyed being in such close proximity, and Cassie was slightly aroused. Emmy reached forward and rubbed her muzzle a few times, whispering into her ear "Next time we take a break, I'm gonna give you a great time." "Promise?" "Definitely." The touching and the promise Emmy made warmed Cassie's heart. She was now looking forward to their next break together extremely eagerly. If only flying through narrow, dark passages wasn't so tricky, she's probably have Emmy pleasure her right here and now.

Max got onto Ord's back. Both of them had released their tension already, so they were able to put their full minds towards the task ahead, and both a had a big smile. Max loved exploring and trying new things, while Ord loved doing just about anything with his best little buddy.

Enrique got onto Zak and Wheezie. There was only one problem: Wheezie was complaining about how lopsided and ungainly their body was, with all the pillows. She whispered into Enrique's ear "Could you tell Zak that we need to ditch these pillows? I'd tell him myself, but he's not listening to me." Being the friendly kid that he is, Enrique couldn't pass on the message, but he had to do something. He decided that a distraction was called for, whispering into Wheezie's ear "I think it would be a good idea if we had some music." Wheezie loved the idea, pulling a full-sized trombone out of her horde. "That's why I brought these." said Zak sarcastically, patting the the two pillows that were covering his ears. Enrique figured that, since there was no more dispute, they could go, even if it wasn't the most amicable resolution imaginable. He was a bit sad that the two dragons fought so much, and it was a complete turn-off. As much as he liked the two for who they were, he had no urge to play with them in the way he liked playing with Emmy or the way Emmy and Cassie or Max and Ord had discovered.

The dragons took off, flying carefully down the deep pit. It was hard to fly with the needed amount of precision. Normally dragons flew hundreds of metres in the sky, with nothing but air in all directions, but here rocks (albeit smooth rocks) were only a metre or two away.

Zak and Wheezie had the worst of it. Wheezie wanted to go fast, while Zak tried to slow down with his half of their body. The result was a fair bit of banging as padding made contact with rock, almost drowning out the loud (and pretty bad) sounds that Wheezie was making with her trombone. Enrique held on firmly, so that he wouldn't lose his grip. He felt good that he was wearing his harness, and that it was properly adjusted. Even if the two silly dragons he was riding managed to shake him loose, he wouldn't go anywhere. Just then, Enrique felt a hard hit against his head. Zak and Wheezie's awful flying had pushed his delicate head against the hard rock wall. It was extremely fortunate that he had his helmet on, which absorbed the energy of the collision and prevented any damage from happening to his fragile brain and skull, though it did take a few seconds for Enrique to figure out what had happened. He was still on the dragons' back, having been kept from falling by his harness.

Cassie flew down very smoothly, as she steadily flew down the center of the tube, not making contact with the rock wall even once. Both Emmy and she enjoyed the trip down. While the upper part of the shaft had been black, everywhere Cassie pointed her flashlight-tipped tail now lit up in a sparkle of colors. The edges of the tube were covered in beautiful (and sharp) crystals of all sizes and colors. Hearing the cacophony coming from below, Emmy and Cassie were both happy that Zak, Wheezie, and Enrique were all wearing their safety gear.

Ord and Max had a pretty decent ride down too. Ord was almost as large as the tube was wide so he did brush his elbow and knee pads against the rock a few times, but nothing major. Max and Ord didn't care about the pretty colors as much as Emmy and Cassie did, but the experience of flying through the bowels of the Earth was great.

All seven children reached the bottom after about a half an hour of flight. Ord, Max, Cassie, and Emmy were fine, but Zak and Wheezie were mad and Enrique was dazed. "Look at what you've done. My beautiful trombone is ruined!" She tried to play a note out of her severely bent piece of brass tubing, but all that came out was a fart-like sound. "It'll never play again." she cried. "What about my pillows ... and my head!" Zak shouted as he showed Wheezie a few of the pillows he had used, the fabric ripped and some of the white fluffy filling having been ripped out. His head was fine physically - he was refering to having to put up with her music. Enrique got off of the arguing dragons and did a very wobbly walk towards Emmy, barely able to stand. "What ... happened?" he asked rhetorically. Emmy uncliped the strap holding his helmet in place and removed the helmet, probing his scalp through his black hair with her fingers. After about five seconds, she took her hand out of his hair and gave him a big hug. "You're fine Enrique. I'm so glad" she said, tears almost coming out of her eyes.

Max came running up to Cassie. He had no idea how to quiet the two bickering dragons. Cassie was getting very good at the courage part, and she knew exactly what to do. "QUIET!!!", she bellowed, in her deepest voice. Max had heard Ord speak pretty loudly before, but Cassie was usually so shy and soft-spoken. He never knew that Cassie could make so much noise. Her bellow got Zak and Wheezie's attention. She stood up tall, and spoke confidently, saying "Your fighting and bickering could have really hurt someone. Look at Enrique. We all love him, and he could have gotten seriously hurt from your shenanigans. Now I order you to stop fighting right now." "But ..." Zak tried to utter. "Right now. I don't want to hear another word from either of you for the next hour." Every one was surprised by how Cassie handled it. It was strong, forceful, and it came from Cassie, the small, shy, pink dragon. As for Zak and Wheezie, the message worked. They wouldn't be bickering again until at least the next chapter.

Cassie then lost her composure. She looked nervous and softly asked Emmy if she had done something wrong by yelling at the two. Emmy put her hand on her shoulder and told her she did exactly what she needed to do. Max, Enrique, and Ord all agreed, with Ord licking Cassie on the nose to let her know that they approved with touch as well as with words.

Once everything had calmed down and everyone's breathing had mostly returned to normal, Enrique made his announcement. "This location should have rainbow crystals. We're going to set up camp, so settle in if you want, you can come help Emmy and me search for the crystals, or set up camp, or just have fun."

Ord and Max went to work setting up their large, sky-blue, hexagonal tent. Max took the instructions and figured out what to do, while Ord used his strength to get the flexible poles into position. They had the tent pitched in about five minutes, Max's quick learning (and ability to read instructions using only the pictures, since he hasn't learned to read yet) and Ord's strength making sure it went up fast. Not needing any stakes didn't hurt either (rock ground so you can't use stakes, and no wind so no need for stakes). The two boys went into their tent and closed the entrance.

They were tired, but not ready to go to bed quite yet. Ord sprawled out on the floor of the tent, in the position that a cat takes when sleeping, and curled up between his arms and his legs, allowing for plenty of contact. The pair was too tired for a repeat of the vigorous activity they had done earlier, but they did feel like talking. Ord and Max talked about lots of cool stuff, including what they'd seen in the cave, what kind of flying tricks Ord has learned, what Max is learning in pre-kindergarten, and all sorts of other interesting stuff. They also shared tips to each other about how they like getting pleasured. Max really likes having his face and his crotch stimulated, while Ord loves contact with his muzzle, especially the nose.

Max also satisfied Ord's curiousity about what has inside his pants, since he had never gotten to show him earlier (which is a good thing - Max would have been regretting it had he succeeded earlier). He didn't show him anything, but he did his best to explain with words. Ord didn't mind too much and after hearing about what was inside and why Max didn't want to show him, he understood, after all, all of his memories of Max were with him wearing clothes, and it felt more natural to see him with his clothes wrapped snugly around his body.

Max decided it was a good time to change into his jammies. He took them out of his backpack and set them down. "Max, you want help?" Ord asked with a cute voice. Max could easily strip himself, other than his pants button which sometimes was a little tricky, but it was the perfect excuse to get touched some more by Ord, so he agreed. "Just look away when I take off my pants - okay?" "Okay, Max." Max lifted his arms up, and Ord grabbed the hem of his snug, green t-shirt. Ord started to lift, and the bottom of the shirt was getting all crumpled, exposing his belly button, when Max suddenly dropped his arms to his sides, preventing Ord from further removing his shirt. "What's wrong, Max" "I got a much better idea." he said, "I'm gonna wear my shirt and underwear underneath my jammies." Max liked wearing snug clothes, and were it not for his experience last night, he'd probably have kept everything on.

Ord fixed up Max's shirt and rubbed his hair while Max removed his belt. Once the belt was gone, he grabbed the tricky copper button holding his waistband together and tried to force it through the buttonhole. He wasn't doing it right, and the button was stubbornly refusing to release its hold. Ord was staring at Max's crotch, watching him struggle with the recalcitrant fastener. He offered to help, but just as Max was going to accept, the button popped through, the tension of his waistband now going through his zipper. "Ord, you should look away now." This was a good idea since Max's crotch wasn't going to be brown much longer.

Once Ord had turned around and closed his eyes, Max loosened the final thing holding his pants up, the zipper opening with a hissing sound. A small pull down around the hips, and the pants were crumpled around his ankles. Max was happy he wore underwear right now, since being completely naked would have been too much, even with Ord looking the other way. He wasted no time stepping out of the fallen jeans and putting his legs into the blue one-piece jammies. He quickly hoisted one of the jammy shoulders onto his shoulder, which pulled the jammies mostly into position and covered his crotch in blue felty material. "Ord, you can look now." Ord turned around and saw his cute friend. His two legs were fully covered in blue, as was his crotch, and most of the right side of his body, including his right arm. He helped Max get the other sleeve on. Max tried to button the three buttons, but buttoning was much harder then unbuttoning, so he let Ord help him. Ord's nails helped in this regard, and pretty quickly Max was fully ensconsed in his pyjamas, with a small amount of green around his neck being the only indication that he had left his shirt on.

Ord couldn't resist the fuzzy blue bundle, and he gave him a big hug, then transistioned into his sprawled out sleeping position while hugging Max all the while. Between the warmth of his thick jammies, the clothes he left on underneath, and Ord's body heat, Max was feeling warm, sleepy, and loved. He had one last good idea. He took his harness out of his backpack, and used it to secure himself snugly to Ord's belly. This way he was going to be right up against Ord the whole night. With his last ounce of energy, he whispered to Ord "I love you." and fell asleep. Ord responded "I love you too.", rubbing Max's hair a little. He looked at his cute, mostly blue (jammies) with a bit of tan (skin) and black (hair) friend. His cute looks and warm smily made Ord feel all warm inside too, and soon his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep as well.


	8. Colors

Meanwhile, Enrique, Cassie, and Emmy got to work. Enrique took his measurements, noting that the barometer read 136.7 kPa, agreeing with his estimated position on the map (corresponding to a depth below sea level of 2,200 metres at 288 Kelvins - probably a little deeper given the actual temperature profile). Cassie made her log entry: "Day 0, 16:24, 136.7 kPa, in a narrow but long chamber deep under the Earth. The air is a little cooler than above. Breathing is easier, but the air feels heavier[1]. Ord and Max are already asleep. Zak and Wheezie have been arguing, but luckily noone got hurt. Rainbow crystals should be nearby."

Emmy was already scanning the walls of the chamber with her flashlight, looking for any evidence of crystals. After searching without results for about 15 minutes, she took another look at her book. She reread the relevant section. It said, just as before (not like words in books usually change between readings), that rainbow crystals are a metamorphic mineral, found in inclusions in igneous intrusions where the magma cools slowly under pressures of at least 85 MPa. She suddenly realized why she couldn't find anything. The walls were indeed igneous, it was an intrusion, and the pressure probably had been sufficient, albeit marginal, for the formation of the crystals, but this magma had cooled rapidly. That was why it was so smooth and shiny. The spot the party was in had already been evaluated and she was supposed to search in one of the two dead ends at the ends of the narrow chamber, not in the middle, where magma had pooled and been allowed to cool slowly.

She told Cassie and Enrique, who decided to come help her. They left a note in Ord and Max's tent, took a pickaxe, and walked the several hundred metres to the end of the fault they were in. It progressively narrowed, and once they were most of the way down the dead end, Emmy had the party stop. There were no rainbow crystals visible, since the surface had cooled too quickly, but she spotted a promising granule, and had Cassie carefully break it free from the floor with the pickaxe. In the process, it broke open, and they were in luck - one perfectly formed rainbow crystal. They repeated the process about two dozen times, gathering a total of eleven suitable specimens - one for each of them and four for Quetzel.

Emmy gave Cassie and Enrique each a rainbow crystal to hold, since she knew they would be curious after expending so much effort getting these. Cassie shined her flashlight on her crystal, and noticed a remarkable thing. Each individual crystal remained a single, distint color of the rainbow so long as she kept everything still. She could control what color she got by either turning the crystal, or by looking at it from another angle[2]. She had expected it to look like a rainbow, but instead discovered that it gave the holder far more power, being able to pick exactly what color they wanted. All three wanted to play with their crystals more, but this wasn't the most inviting location to do it; the surface or back home would be much better places. Emmy packed the rainbow crystals in a specially-prepared pouch and then returned the pouch to her backpack. The group went back to the campsite.

Despite the site being protected from the elements (by 2,500+ metres of rock) and at a reasonable, if a bit cool, temperature, Cassie wanted to pitch the tent. As soon as she had taken it out, the other two realized why she wanted to use it. As the tent was taken out of Cassie's horde, the two saw that it was brightly colored with pink, yellow, and blue - the same as Cassie's, Enrique's, and Emmy's favorite colors respectively. It was a self-erecting tent, springing into shape once Cassie removed a velcro tie holding it closed. In its erect form, it stood about 2 metres high (a bit shorter than Cassie when she stands upright, and about half the height of Ord's tent) and was also hexagonal in shape. The 6 triangles that made up the sides of the tent were each one of their favorite colors, with opposite triangles having matching colors (eg., pink, blue, yellow, pink, blue, yellow).

Emmy and Cassie entered the tent, while Enrique decided to take a moment for himself outside, just to relax and reflect. Emmy took a miniature LED lantern out of her backpack, and Cassie tied it to the apex of the tent. The lantern wasn't all that bright (battery power is limited after all), but it still managed to light up the beautifully colored walls of the tent and let the two children see.

Cassie was having a hard time relaxing. She was still shaken up by what Zak and Wheezie had put her through. Emmy could see this, and decided to help out her friend. She crawled up Cassie's back and started tickling behind her ears. Cassie liked the feeling, which was relaxing as well as stimulating. Cassie then had an idea. She took out a thick blanket so that Emmy wouldn't be hurt by what she was going to do. "What's that for?" asked Emmy, a little excitement in her voice. "Lie down and I'll show you." Cassie told Emmy softly. One Emmy was laying down, Cassie lied down herself in front of her, placed on arm behind Emmy's knees, placed the other behind her neck and shoulders, lifted her up, and smooshed Emmy against her face. It felt wonderful, for Emmy as well as Cassie. The two couldn't contain their giggling.

Emmy told Cassie "Can you put me down for a moment?" "Is everything okay?" replied Cassie, a little concerned about her rough behaviour. "You're doing fine, Cassie, but I want to invite our friend. I don't think it's fair to leave him out of all the fun we're having, and, besides, three should be better than two." Emmy peeked her head out of the tent, found Enrique sitting against the wall a few metres away, and spoke loudly "Enrique. Enrique. Come play with us." Even though Emmy didn't say what they were up to, her upbeat tone of voice told Enrique that he wanted to join. He quickly got up and hopped on over.

Enrique's smile grew large when he saw what the two of them were up to, and his heart felt very warm knowing that he was included. Enrique had a good idea: he lied down on belly-up on the blankets, Cassie lied down mostly on the tent floor but with her head resting on Enrique's chest and crotch (perpendicular to Enrique), and then Emmy lied down belly-down on Cassie's head, her arms and head dangling down the right side of Cassie's face and able to reach Enrique's head and arms, and her legs dangling down the left side of Cassie's face but not quite reaching either the floor or Enrique's legs. Enrique loved the pressure on his body. The shape of Cassie's chin bone caused the pressure to mainly be distributed on his chest and crotch, with the stomach not being pressed against too hard. It was a great setup. Both human children had their arms and faces free to touch Cassie, and Cassie had almost every part of her being touched in turn. Enrique tried pushing his hips against Cassie. He wasn't able to get much motion because of how strongly he was pressed against the blankets, but that didn't matter - the rhythmic changes of pressure sufficed.

With his left hand, Enrique was tickling Cassie's right cheek, while his other hand was touching the tip of her muzzle. Emmy was rubbing her knees up against Cassie's left cheek and her arms were playing in Enrique's black, lustrous hair. Cassie was feeling great. Her sensitive face was being squeezed and tickled from just about every direction. Between the fuzzy blue denim and yellow cotton knit rubbing against her chin, the blue jumper pleasuring her head, and the tan flesh touching her cheeks and muzzle, Cassie could barely contain herself. Her eyes were closed and her only thoughts were of the two lovely friends who were assaulting her with pleasure. She was almost at the point of no return, when she told her two friends to "Please, stop." Being good friends, they listened to her, Emmy quickly dismounting Cassie, allowing her to get up off of Enrique. "Sorry, I was about to lose control of myself." Cassie said. "Don't worry;" said Emmy, Enrique adding "that's the best part." Still, the two were happy that Cassie took a time out, because neither of them were close to orgasming and they explained to her how much better it is when they time it together.

That resolved, they resumed their fun. This time, Enrique stood in front of Cassie, intent on letting her do whatever she wanted to his body. Emmy climbed up on Cassie, taking a more normal posture, and started ticking her muzzle with her hands while rhythmically pushing her jumper-covered crotch against Cassie's head. Cassie kneeled down so that she was face-to-face with Enrique and started licking his face. It felt great on Enrique's face and his blue crotch soon started to bulge and fill with warmth. Emmy's built-in underwear also was getting a little bit of a bulge and was getting very warm, though it couldn't be seen because of the jumper. Emmy loved the feeling of scales rasping against the clothes, each passing scale giving her a little shot of pleasure. As Emmy was getting more and more aroused, she was rubbing Cassie's face more and more vigorously. Soon she was rubbing her privates against Cassie so hard that she was almost jumping up and down.

Putting her syncing lesson into practice, Cassie focused on Enrique while loving the work that Emmy was doing. She grabbed Enrique under the shoulders and lifted him up, bringing him face-to-face with Emmy and blue-crotch-to-pink-lips with Cassie. Enrique and Emmy gave each other a big smile while Cassie opened her lips, put them up and around Enrique's blue tent, and started sucking it in. Once she had drawn in as much of the fabric and underlying flesh as she could (about 6-7 centimeters), she began manipulating it with her tongue. She loved the heat and taste coming from below the fabric as well as the rought texture of the denim, while the physical stimulation was blissful for Enrique. He was happy that he was wearing his jeans and underwear, which were providing protection for his fleshy member from Cassie's rough tongue treatment, keeping his skin dry, and helping to avoid that somewhat icky thought of actually touching the insides of someone's mouth with his thing - technically the only thing Cassie was touching was his jeans, and he was only touching his underwear.

The three entered orgasm almost simultaneously. First to lose control was Emmy, who enjoyed it immensely. Cassie could feel Emmy's contractions, and this pushed her over the edge. She responed by dropping one her hands behind Enrique's rear end and pushing him against her mouth as well as scratching and tickling the seat of his pants with her claws as her brain flooded with pleasant endorphins. This was too much for Enrique to take, and soon waves of pleasure were coursing up from his crotch, while his member was desperately trying to pump out non-existant fluid into his clothes.

The orgasm made Cassie lose control of Enrique, who fell on his feet and was barely able to sit down safely, himself being distracted by his own orgasm. The three friends then slowly collapsed from the bliss and effort of it all, Emmy sprawled out tummy-first on Cassie, herself belly-first on the floor of the tent, with Enrique next to the two, belly-up and leaning a bit against Cassie.

Cassie had had a wonderful time. Emmy and Enrique were such great friends to have. She was so happy that Enrique hadn't been hurt before, knowing that they couldn't have had the great time they just did had his body or brain been injured.

After sitting down for about half an hour and cooling down from hot to warm to okay to a bit chilly to cold, Enrique decided to put his jammies on and Emmy decided to do so too. Cassie was okay, because her large body mass meant she didn't get cold easily. Enrique got out his green jammies and Emmy took out her red with golden dragon jammies. Emmy placed her hand on the top button of her jumper, ready to make it lose its grip, which worried Enrique a bit. It wasn't just that he had never seen Emmy naked before, and he soon figured it out - Emmy was cold too, and if the button failed, it would let her precious heat out. He then remembered what he liked to do when it was cold, and whispered into Emmy's ear that she could wear both. The message was in time, and the chest of the jumper remained snug and insulating, just like Enrique's outfit.

It was a good idea. Instead of feeling even chillier from opening up the chest, she felt warmth in her legs as she pulled up her pyjama pants. She guided the elastic under the jumper and placed it snugly right where the built-in underwear was sewn to the jumper, finishing by tensioning the drawstring and tying it in a bow-tie know. She then put on the top piece of the jammies, feeling her arms and neck become warmer as the tan skin disappeared underneath insulating red fabric. She buttoned the shirt buttons, adding a third layer of insulation over the t-shirt and jumper that she had just saved.

Enrique thought that Emmy looked very cute in her new outfit. Cassie thought likewise, though she prefered the adjective pretty. Looking at her from the top down, they saw her familiar ponytailed hair, her comforting smile, her bright red jammy shirt, the cute skirt-part of the jumper, the bottom half or so of her red pyjama pants, and finally her lovely, clean, tan-colored feet. The clothes looked a little fuller than normal, which just added to the cuteness, and Enrique couldn't stop himself from giving her a medium-sized hug and whispering to her how cute she was. Emmy then said that she'd like to see how he looks in his jammies.

Like Emmy, he left his jeans and his shirt alone. They certainly felt a lot better wrapped around his body than they would in a pile on the floor. Getting the pyjama pants on was tricky. The jeans clung to the inside of the jammies, and were getting pulled up into jean-shorts. Even few centimetres he would have to wiggle the jeans back down; however, soon enough the light-green waistband of his leaf-green jammy pants was snugly in its spot around his waist, completely covering the blue denim with stretchy, fuzzy, and warm green fabric. Enrique pulled his drawstring closed, holding it in place with a bow-tie know. He pulled his stretchy jammy shirt over his head, Emmy and Cassie smiling a bit when they saw the cute black locks make it through the neck hole of the shirt. He fixed up the sleeves of his yellow t-shirt and then placed the elastic bottom hem of the shirt snugly into place, right over his warm and protected member.

When Emmy saw the leaf-green (with black hair) teddy bear, she couldn't resist. She gave Enrique a big hug, squeezing against his fluffy jammies and rubbing a bit against his thickly-covered crotch, giving him a little memory to take to bed.

The two humans then lied down, neither of them wearing or needing any blankets or a mattress, on account of all the warm padding they were wearing. Cassie turned off the lantern and joined to two on the tent floor. Their pillows were pretty torn up, a reminder of what Wheezie and Zak had done. They tried to talk, but all three were pretty tired, and they soon joined Ord and Max in slumberland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Technical Note: Air pressure is directly proportional to the density and weight of an air column, and just like how a spirit level works, all the twists and sinuations in the caves do not effect this - air seeks its level just like water does. At 136.7 kPa, there is about 35% more oxygen available in each breath, making breathing easier. The air will also be about 35% denser and give 35% more air resistance to objects moving through it, meaning that it not only will feel heavier, but actually be heavier (whereas 'heavy air' for surface folks is usually an illusion caused by water vapour in the air, which actually is lighter than dry air when placed against a barometer).
> 
> [2] Technical Note: Rainbow crystals work by interference of light as it bounces off the multiple parallel planes the make up the crystal. Each plane is 108 nm apart, giving a travel distance of 216 nm when light is shined orthogonally, corresponding to blue light (Waves are inverted when reflecting off a boundary into a region with a higher index of refraction, which is the case here. The result is that a travel distance of 1/2 a wavelength leads to constructive interference). When light is shone at shallower and shallower angles, the travel distance increases and the color shifts towards the red. A 30 degree angle of incidence (before refraction at the boundary - it's 45 degrees after refraction) gives a travel length of 304 nm, corresponding to a deep orange light. Red can be obtained by shining the light nearly parallel to the surface of the crystal. The dazzling display of colors that the crystals are noted for are the result of placing many crystals together in random orientations, and having either the light source(s), the crystals, or the viewer move.


	9. Ascent

Max was the first to wake up, probably because he went to sleep so early, as he usually is the last to rise. It felt strange to wake up to total darkness. He turned on his trusty flashlight and had a look around. Ord was sleeping soundly, so he exited their tent. He wanted to see what Emmy was up to, so he went over to their brightly colored tent, and peeked in. Emmy herself was almost awake, and heard the sound of Max approaching and opening the entrance to their tent. She smiled, got her flashlight, rose quietly, and left the tent to greet Max.

Max gave a big yawn, stretching his blue arms above his head. He retracted his arms and started shivering. "Brrr ... it's so cold." The temperature was no different than when he had retired, but humans naturally feel colder while waking up. "Why don't you get your pants." Emmy softly told Max. Max liked the idea, and went back to his tent. While searching the tent floor for his discarded jeans, he tripped and fell onto Ord's belly. His belly was soft and it didn't hurt (actually, it felt pretty good), but Ord didn't agree. He opened his sleepy eyes and said "Owww. What was that for, Max?" in a somewhat submissive voice. Max felt sorry and told Ord it was an accident. He then spotted his pants. Ord was using them to prop up his pillow a little higher. "Can I have my pants?" Max asked? "Sure thing, little buddy." Ord said as he got up, and then helped Max get into them. While Max was fixing up the jammy legs that were getting buched together underneath his jeans, Ord zipped and buttoned his friend's jeans. The extra tightness from them being over his jammies meant there was no need for the belt, so Ord placed it in Max's backpack. Max finished fixing up his legs, and he liked how he felt. He was quite a bit warmer, especially over his sensitive privates. Ord thought he looked cute, the brown jeans and blue jammies making a nice combination.

Pretty soon everyone was awake and gathered outside, a sleepy eyed Enrique and Cassie being the last two to get up. Zak and Wheezie, who had been sleeping outside, seemed especially eager to get going. "The sooner we break camp, the sooner we get home." was all that was on his mind. As soon as Cassie had finished packing up the blankets and stuff inside the tent, Zak folded up the tent, forcing it back into a small bundle against its wishes, tying it down, and handing it to Cassie for storage. He was so eager that Cassie almost didn't get out, her tail getting stuck in the tent as Zak folded it while she was stepping out.

Meanwhile, Max cleaned up the contents of their tent. Once he was finished and had walked up to Ord's side, Ord and Max took apart their large tent, Ord doing the heavy labor and Max folding and putting stuff away. The two had become so much closer over the last several days, and it showed in their teamwork.

Enrique studied his map, while Emmy wrote the log entry for Cassie: "Day 1, 6:58, 136.7 kPa, still in the same long and narrow passageway. Cassie, Enrique, and I found the rainbow crystals last night. We collected 11 beatiful specimens. All of us, except for a worn-out Zak and Wheezie, had plenty of evening fun and a good night's sleep. Zak is especially eager to leave, and Wheezie doesn't seem to be putting up any resistance." Enrique plotted out a path to the surface. They weren't going to go back the way they came, because he deemed it too dangerous. Instead, they would travel through a rather circuitous route that avoided any vertical passages, though it was quite a bit longer.

With Enrique and Cassie in the lead, the seven friends set out. They travelled to the far end of the fault in which they had camped, and passed through a small opening. The rock on the other side was a pale yellow-white, contrasting sharply with the black rock they had been in up until now. The air was also getting damp and cool. After travelling about five hundred paces, Enrique could hear the sound of water, which didn't make sense, as his barometer read 136.9 kPa, even deeper than where they had camped and far from the surface. As the party progressed towards the sound of the water, Emmy explained how the caves they were in were made of limestone and that water can carve out underground rivers through this rock. A few hundred paces farther, they reached an underground river. It had carved itself a nice, wide passage, with ample room on the rocky banks for the friends to walk along. It was cold, the water being close to the freezing point and chilling the air around them, but there was no wind and the human kids were adequately dressed, especially now that they were moving and burning energy.

They walked upstream. The sound of the gurgling water was quite relaxing, and both the dragons and the humans would have felt like taking a long, refreshing dip and cleaning their bodies, if the water weren't so cold.

They continued hiking for about four hours, walking along smooth rock banks where the river moved slowly, and up rougher talus slopes consisting of cobbles or even boulders in the steeper sections. By this point, most of party was getting tired. Enrique and Zak felt like continuing, but they were outvoted by the other five. They found a spot with a broad, flat limestone bank and sat down for a picnic. Enrique and Max liked the PB&J sandwiches. Emmy ate what was left of their rather stale baguette. Ord didn't have much to eat, having finished is massive stash of dragonberries the day before. Cassie and Zak and Wheezie ate their dragonberries, having been more judicious in their rationing. Enrique took his measurement, reading 130.8 kPa, a marked improvement though still a ways to go.

As they were getting up, Ord noticed that Max looked quite tired. "You okay, buddy." he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. "Nah, I'm okay. Just my legs are tired" "You want to ride in my horde?" asked Ord kindly. "Would I? I'd love to." Max said, as he lifted his arms up to let Ord grab him. Ord picked up Max and placed him carefully in his horde, which was like a kangaroo's pouch, only larger, and used for storage instead of child-rearing. Only his head was sticking out, with the rest of his body snugly tucked away in the pouch, his body heat contibuting a bit to keeping Ord warm, and Ord keeping Max cozily warm. Ord also liked how it felt whenever Max shifted around and he definitely liked being this close to his friend.

The party resumed their travels, moving a little faster than the 2 km/h that they had been averaging up until then, as Max wasn't slowing them down anymore. This segment was very straight, rising along at a steady 10-degree or so incline for many kilometres. Emmy peeked a glance at Enrique's map and figured out that they were travelling along an old strike-slip fault, and the river had used the natural crack in the earth to help it form its course. After about an hour of constant climbing, Emmy's legs were starting to give out. Cassie's horde was to small to do like Ord and Max had done, but Cassie did let Emmy ride her in the usual way, Emmy giving Cassie a kiss as soon as she mounted and patting her on the head as her way of saying thanks. Not even half an hour later Enrique was spent too. Fearing a repeat incident (and wanting to spend more time with his best friends), he asked Cassie if there was any room left. Cassie was okay with the idea of two riders, and Enrique climbed on Cassie and sat right behind her, hit crotch up against her rear.

Enrique did have the urge to play around with Emmy, but given that both were exhausted and Cassie was carrying them, they decided to do so another time; besides, the party was still relying on Enrique to navigate, and he couldn't do that if his eyes were pushed up against Emmy's cute, fuzzy, red jammy pants. Ahh, what was he thinking. He needed to keep his mind off of Emmy. Emmy could feel Enrique's tension, and it did bother her a bit, but this time Enrique came up with the good idea: he placed the map book on Emmy's lap, grabbed Emmy around her chest and waist, and leaned over her shoulders. The way to get rid of the tension was to give in. He could softly and moderately pleasure her while doing his navigating at the same time, especially since Emmy was there to help him.

While Enrique was busy kissing Emmy's neck and gently rubbing her red, jammy-covered chest and blue, denim-covered groin, the dragons continued walking. They made excellent time. In the two hours that they followed the straight river, they progressed about ten kilometres forward and 1,500 metres upwards. Max was enjoying the scenery, his head still sticking out of Ord's horde. Enrique and Emmy were far more distracted with themselves than the scenery, but they kept enough control over themselves to do their jobs. The pressure was now 97.3 kPa and the corresponding point on the map was almost at the entrance to the cave.

The entrance consisted of a short vertical cylinder, about 10 metres in height. Water fell in via a small waterfall, and it swirled around in the center before exiting via the river they had been following all day long. The sun was beautiful and so bright that they were blinded for a moment as their eyes adjusted from the darkness of the caves. Enrique and Emmy stopped what they were doing. The three dragons flew up and out of the hole.

They were amazed at what they saw. They were about halfway up what looked like Snowy Summit. Meltwater was pouring into the hole and feeding the river, which explained why it was so cold. The dragons landed on the packed snow nearby and let the humans off. It felt good to be on the surface again after so long. They felt their first breeze in days as the cold air cut through the humans' night clothes. Max curled back into Ord's pouch for warmth while Enrique and Emmy shivered a bit and hugged themselves to stay warm.

Enrique got onto Zak and Wheezie, Emmy remounted Cassie, and they then took off for the School in the Sky. They were taken aback by how far they had travelled. Snowy Summit and the Stickleback Mountains were in opposite directions from the School in the Sky, and they had travelled that entire distance underground.

The air rapidly warmed as they left the cold mountain and descended. After about 15 minutes of effortless flying, they arrived and Questzal was there to greet them. "Hola, niños." he greeted them. "Ord and Cassie, I see you've succeeded. I'm very proud of you." They both wondered how Quetzel knew they had the crystals as Emmy took them from her backpack and handed four of the crystals to Quetzel. "Thank you very much.", having forgotten about his original request. "I see that you have found what you were looking for." Ord and Cassie were still perplexed. Max, who was still in Ord's horde, came out and gave him a hug, and Ord realized what Quetzel meant. "Oh, yes, Max and I did find what we're looking for." said Ord, picking up his buddy and giving him a big Ord-sized hug in return as Emmy added in a "definitely". Cassie said "And I found what I was looking for ... my best buddies Enrique and Emmy." as she hugged both of them warmly.

Zak and Wheezie felt left out and walked up to Quetzel, who replied "I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for. Next time, try to be friends with each other." Neither were too happy with these words of wisdom, but they were so tired that they couldn't be bothered with any snarky remarks, instead leaving for their knuckerhole without saying any goodbyes. It just hadn't been their trip.

Quetzel then looked at the rainbow crystals that he had been given, and thanked the children. "These will prove most helpful in my studies." he told them, examing their colors under the light of the sun. Emmy then handed him another two crystals, saying "These are for Zak and Wheezie. I hope it'll help cheer them up."

Cassie, Ord, and Quetzel said their goodbyes to Emmy, Max, and Enrique. Even knowing that they would see each other tomorrow, it felt like such a long time to stay away from their friends. The three humans then recited the rhyme, and returned home. It was still morning back in Emmy and Max's house, giving them more than enough time for a long, hard-earned nap.

PS: Zak and Wheezie did get over their funk of a mood after a long nap away from the cave, and the crystals did cheer up Wheezie. Wheezie was cafeful to be nice to Zak, and that cheered him up to.


End file.
